Now Obama targets your FedEx, UPS packages

It appears as though the administration aims to deputize FedEx and UPS by "requiring" them to police packages and to inspect them accordingly.
Hmmm... That does not seem right does it?

The Obama administration is demanding the nation’s two biggest shipping companies police the contents of Americans’ sealed packages, and a FedEx
spokesman is warning that the move “has the potential to threaten the privacy of all customers that send or receive packages.”

FedEx and UPS are in the Justice Department’s cross-hairs for not flagging shipments of illegally prescribed drugs the companies say they had no way
of knowing were in their possession.

Criminal charges could be coming against the carriers, even though the government has not alleged any deliberate wrongdoing by the companies.

FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said his company has a 40-year history of actively assisting the government crackdown on any criminal conduct, but
he told WND this probe was very different from the start.

The crux

“What is unusual and really disturbing is it became clear to us along the way that FedEx was being targeted for some level criminal activity as
it relates to these medicines that are being shipped from pharmacies, and we find it to be completely absurd because it’s really not our role,”
Fitzgerald said. “We have no way of knowing what is legal and not within the packages that we’re picking up and delivering in this
situation.”

“At the heart of the investigation are sealed packages that are being sent by, as far as we can tell, licensed pharmacies. These are medicines with
legal prescriptions written by licensed physicians. So it’s difficult for us to understand where we would have some role in this. We are a
transportation company that picks up and delivers close to 10 million packages every day. They are sealed packages, so we have no way of knowing
specifically what’s inside and we have no interest in violating the privacy rights of our customers,” Fitzgerald said.

In addition to the unrealistic expectation that the federal government seems to have for the companies to know what’s in every package, Fitzgerald
said protecting the rights of customers is paramount and the issues go hand-in-hand.

Nothing is sacred, not even your 3 month supply of Zocor from Caremark

Assigning these companies the role of law enforcer is simply way out of bounds and the Administration is not interested in working anything out with
FedEx. Not Surprising!!

FedEx sought to diffuse the standoff by offering to stop doing business with any pharmacies that the government suspected to be involved in
illegal activities. The Justice Department declined, citing the potential for the pharmacies to sue over a lack of due process.

“If the government were to come to us and give us the name of a customer that’s engaged in some level of illegal activity, we can immediately stop
shipping for that customer. We will not tolerate any illegal activity within our networks,” Fitzgerald said. “What we want here is a solution that
will apply for the entire industry and serve the public’s interest. That’s why we find it completely absurd and, to a large degree, stunning that
the government is not working with us on that solution as they have with other problems in the past. As long as they’re not doing that, there’s
really no solution even if they were to pursue an investigation or criminal charges against a specific company. There needs to be an industry-wide
solution that will put a stop to this problem.”

Did I mention NO Cooperation from the Govt?

That leaves FedEx and UPS with the task of stopping illegal shipments from sources the government will not divulge.

“The comparison that we’ve made is a no-fly list. It’s as if the government were to go to major commercial airlines and accuse them of some
level of criminal activity if they were to allow somebody on the no-fly list onto one of their planes without providing them a no-fly list,”
Fitzgerald said. “What we want here is the no-fly list for online pharmacies. If they are aware of some level of illegal activity by some number of
pharmacies, simply provide us that list and we will stop providing service. It’s a very simple solution.”

Jeeze... ANY basis for more Federal regulation and power grab to that level of power. Let's just save all this B.S. and dancing around. We'll fold all
the states into a federal power structure and roll the state police of every one of them into the new National Police Force he would seem to be very
busy building under the auspices of the DHS.

Enough Enough Enough. Our packages are NONE of his federal business as something to screen on the ASSUMPTION to guilt to be proven innocent BY
inspection. This clown just does not get even the most BASIC of principles when it comes to due process, limited federal power and SOME sense of
probable cause before anyone in Government or at their direction violates what we like to call the 4th amendment.

Of course..I keep referring to the Constitution like it means a thing anymore. It seems to be the toilet paper of choice in some offices anymore.
(deep sigh)

What's next is they start targeting the natural supplements industry. They want to make shipping companies afraid to ship anything that might have a
pill bottle inside.

There are already moves to make even natural supplements available by prescription only. The government wants to control everything that goes into our
bodies to make sure we get our daily dose of poison to ensure we don't live long enough to become a burden on the taxpayers.

Originally posted by MastaShake
Why is this a problem? hasnt the government been screening packages for illegal drugs/weapons since.....forever?

The Federal Government threatening to criminally prosecute companies because something may or may not be within sealed packages they can't open..or
expected to open, just to peek? That is new. Entirely new. as the OP article states, this is more of the "New Government".

It's not even trying to work with then, as has been the history. It's just another command from 'on-high'. 'You *WILL* do this, as we command it
or you will fall by Federal law.'

Yeah... Nice free friggin country we have here these days. What new commands will tomorrow bring?

(With the theft that happens in the package industry now, by the way, the LAST thing I want is Government orders FORCING them to take a personal
interesting in meddling with even MORE packages..but of course no order from Uncle Sam can ever be a bad idea or have bad outcomes.. Naww.. They walk
on water. :shk: )

seems like they are trying to take out their competition . seeing how the u.s.p.s has been in the red for years and their is no way out , they are
going to force their private competitors to lose customers. direct them to the u.s.p.s parcel delivery . gotta love transparency

The govt. won't even give them a list of companies to look out for but still expect them to catch the bad stuff. They are shifting the Onus to the
middle man courier.

I find this part to be very interesting.

Fitzpatrick said no other private carriers are being targeted by the Justice Department, and he has no evidence to suggest this probe is designed
to boost the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service at the expense of private competitors.

UPS is currently negotiating a settlement with the government, but FedEx is fighting this all the way.

“Settlement is not an option for us when there’s no illegal activity on our part,” Fitzpatrick said.

No other private carriers are being targeted. What about Quasi public carriers like USPS. Are they already in the business of inspecting these
packages?

FedEx plans to fight this all the way. I hope they win because this action by the govt. is clearly crossing the line.

The govt. won't even give them a list of companies to look out for but still expect them to catch the bad stuff. They are shifting the Onus to the
middle man courier.

I find this part to be very interesting.

Fitzpatrick said no other private carriers are being targeted by the Justice Department, and he has no evidence to suggest this probe is designed
to boost the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service at the expense of private competitors.

UPS is currently negotiating a settlement with the government, but FedEx is fighting this all the way.

“Settlement is not an option for us when there’s no illegal activity on our part,” Fitzpatrick said.

No other private carriers are being targeted. What about Quasi public carriers like USPS. Are they already in the business of inspecting these
packages?

FedEx plans to fight this all the way. I hope they win because this action by the govt. is clearly crossing the line.

FedEx sought to diffuse the standoff by offering to stop doing business with any pharmacies that the government suspected to be involved in illegal
activities. The Justice Department declined, citing the potential for the pharmacies to sue over a lack of due process.

Government only worried about covering its own rear. Not concerned at all about potential lawsuits towards the carriers.

Wow this is nuts. I cannot believe that the government would stoop to this kind of bullying. Kudos to Fedex for standing up and not letting big
brother push them around. I think I'm going to use Fedex for my shipping needs and I don't even need to ship illegal things. Forget UPS, those bums
just roll over when big bad government comes a knocking.

Pharmaceutical companies, which develop both over-the-counter and prescription drugs, have been among the biggest political spenders for years.
While the industry has traditionally supported Republican candidates, some key players have recently increased donations to Democratic candidates as
the GOP’s power in Washington erodes.

Fedex is non-union, non "employee owned." So this will take them out. They lost a 2009 suit that the government was favoring UPS in its decisions
regarding unionized aviation workers and their right to strike, unionize etc. Fedex called it a "bailout", which most agreed was too harsh of a
label.

This is the government punishing them for giving donations to conservative congressional candidates, as well as liberal ones. (UPS only contributes
to democrats).

Cannot find the source any more but I do remember one of the promises made by the administration to the drug companies was they would come down on
overseas pharmacies. I see this as a way to achieve that goal, no mail carriers to deliver ie- no cheap prescription drugs.

And let me preface this with, I am not an expert, lawyer, etc, so I could be wrong... As far as I understand things, if you ship something with the
US Postal Service (since it is a government entity), a warrant/probable cause is required to open/inspect a package. Where as with UPS/FedEx they can
open any package they please since they are a private company and you agree to their terms when you ship with them.

I worked for UPS for about a year, and one night we had a package that had hazardous material markings (ORM-D; Other Regulated Materials - Dangerous),
but didn't have the required documents to ship this type of material. If I remember correctly it was a hairspray box that appeared to be reused...
This package was opened to ensure that there were no hazardous materials present. They just so happened to find a brick of marijuana inside and
contacted the police...

It seems to me that the government is looking for private companies to do their policing for them...

Moral of the the story, if you are doing something shady, use USPS and make sure you don't re-use hairspray boxes...

What's next is they start targeting the natural supplements industry. They want to make shipping companies afraid to ship anything that might have a
pill bottle inside.

There are already moves to make even natural supplements available by prescription only. The government wants to control everything that goes into our
bodies to make sure we get our daily dose of poison to ensure we don't live long enough to become a burden on the taxpayers.

The targeting has already begun. Codex Alimentarius is the attack, and its been under way for some while.

I ordered an Alienware PC waayy back when dell didn't own them, and it was THE best PC at the time 2002 I think.. anyway, FedEX opened the box and
stole the video card.. ($500). Alienware paid to send back the PC and gave me the missing card, and overnighted it using UPS.

Another time, with Newegg.. ordered a Geforce card, it was 'the best of the best' at the time 4 years ago.. I get the box.. pick it up, and its
weight was waaaay too light... open it up, no card..

called newegg, and they said they have had issues with FedEX as of late, so they overnighted me the same card, no questions asked.. I LOVE THEM!

So, since then, I will NEVER AGAIN use FedEX. they are crooks... well, at least they have lots of crooks working there...

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